Harbor Beach woman recalls frightful furlough

TRACI L. WEISENBACH

Published 8:00 pm, Sunday, April 2, 2006

HARBOR BEACH  Anita Booms packed her bags, excited about her very first tropical cruise on a beautiful ship. Her mind filled with visions of flowing palm trees, crystal blue waters, and warm sunshine. She couldnt wait to embark upon her adventure on the sea. But it turned out to be much more of an adventure than she ever bargained for.

Booms, along with her husband, Ed, and relatives Gail and Dave Roggenbuck, booked a seven-day Western Caribbean cruise on a ship called Star Princess, one of the cruise ships for Princess Cruises. This ship made news headlines around the world when it caught fire on March 23, resulting in 11 injuries and one man dead. Booms and her family were on this ship.

Fortunately Booms and her family members were not injured in the incident. When the ship caught fire, it was about 50 miles off the coast of Jamaica, Booms said. The ship already had sailed from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., to Mexico and Grand Cayman.

She said soon after passengers boarded the ship, the crew had an emergency drill to go over information passengers needed to know in case of an emergency. They also informed passengers about rules that were in place to ensure peoples safety.

People stood around and (said), Whatever, Booms said. They were joking about (the emergency drill), thinking nothing would happen.

She said the crew told passengers something that ended up being a bit prophetic.

They said the worst thing that could happen is a fire, she said.

Waking up to a fright

The morning of the fire, Booms and her family were sleeping, and Booms woke up when she heard an announcement being broadcast in the hallway.

At first I thought it was morning, but it was only 3:15 a.m., she said. I thought it was weird that they would be making an announcement that early.

She said she looked around and didnt see anything out of the ordinary. She then heard commotion in the hallway and opened her door. She saw people who were wondering what was going on. Some members of the crew were running through the hallways with lifejackets on, closing fire doors. They told people to get back into their rooms.

I knew something was wrong, but didnt know what at that point, she said.

Booms said after she got back in her room, she heard a smoke detector go off.

I believe that was to wake people up, Booms said.

She then heard an announcement stating people needed to get their life jackets and go to their muster station, a place they were introduced to during the emergency drill. Then an alarm sounded  seven short blasts and one long blast.

Booms and others entered the hallway, and crew members told them there was smoke in the stairway.

Thats the first time wed heard there was a fire, she said.

Booms, her husband, and their relatives were on the 11th deck. The smoke was quite thick in the stairway, but as they descended to the seventh deck where their muster station was, the smoke started to thin out.

We didnt realize how bad the fire was. We thought it was just a couple of cabins, Booms said.

She said as they approached the muster station, people were remembering what the crew had said about a fire  the worst thing that could happen on the ship.

Some people were really shook up. Some were a little nervous, Booms said.

The long wait

A half hour later, the captain of the ship spoke over the loudspeaker. Booms said he announced the ship had been stopped because the wind was fueling the fire. He said the fire had been contained, but it had not yet been extinguished.

They updated us every half hour, Booms said. It took a couple of hours before the fire had been put out.

She said she saw life boats had been lowered.

That was a bit unsettling, she said. That probably was just protocol, but now I know we were closer to getting on those boats than we realized.

After the fire was extinguished, crew members did a roll call for all of the passengers on the boat. News reports state 2,690 passengers were on the ship.

It was three to four hours before they accounted for everyone, she said.

She said she and her family, along with other passengers, spent seven hours in the muster station.

We were feeling cooped up, she said.

She said crew members handed out blankets, towels, and water to passengers in the muster stations.

Booms said during the last two to two and a half hours they were in the muster station, the ship had started sailing once again to Jamaica.

During the last hour, we were allowed to get a little food, she said.

Booms said the crew impressed her.

They did a wonderful job keeping us informed and kept everyone calm. It couldve been a very chaotic situation, but it wasnt, she said.

Booms said she and her family were on the side of the ship that didnt burn. She later heard the fire affected 120 cabins  the size of a football field.

We knew then it was serious, she said.

Arriving in Jamaica

When they arrived in Jamaica, ambulances, fire engines, emergency staff, and hearses were waiting on shore. That was another sign of the seriousness of the fire. She found out 11 people had to be treated for smoke inhalation. She also learned one man died from a heart attack as he and his wife were heading to their muster station. They had been on the side of the ship that burned. She said no one was burned.

I know they flew some people back to the U.S. on helicopters, she said.

When it occurred to her how big of a deal this fire was, Booms figured her family and friends would hear about it on the news and not know that she and her husband and relatives were OK.

I became concerned and wanted to call them, she said. The first thing I did when I got back to my room was call my sister-in-law.

Her children  Nathan, 15, Mitchell, 12, and Max, 11  were staying with her sister-in-law. Booms said she had called before they heard much about the fire.

It was interesting to them. They knew we were OK, so they didnt seem to be scared, she said.

Booms said the cruise line offered free phone calls and Internet use so people could contact their families. She said she later e-mailed her sister-in-law with more details.

She said the cruise ship emergency was kind of ironic.

I was concerned that if there was an emergency with the children, we wouldnt be able to be there. I never thought that we would be the ones with the emergency, she said.

Booms and her family eventually got off the ship and took a bus to Margaritaville for some fun. While on the bus, they turned a corner and could see a view of the side of the boat that was burned.

We all gasped, she said. It was hard to stop looking at it. We didnt know how bad it had been until then.

According to news reports, its believed a cigarette caused the fire, as someone may have flicked the cigarette from a balcony and it landed on the balcony below.

(The crew) had instructed us not to throw cigarette butts off of the balconies, but I saw people doing it. Now we know what can happen, Booms said.

She said Thursday night, she and her family had dinner and took in a show on the ship.

The crew tried to keep everything as normal as possible, she said. They were unbelievable. Even though they had been up all night and had soot on their faces, they still put a smile on their face. They went way above and beyond the call of duty to take care of us.

Heading home

On Thursday, Booms said she knew the passengers would soon be heading home on a plane.

(The cruise line) did everything for us. They made all the arrangements, she said.

They boarded a plane on Friday, landed in Minnesota, and then took a flight to Detroit. Booms and her family returned to Harbor Beach at 1:30 a.m. March 25.

I was so happy to be home, she said.

Booms said while she held herself together while she was on the ship, she woke up on Saturday and what had just happened on the ship really sunk in.

I got quite anxious, she said. It didnt last long.

She said she realized how fortunate she and her family were to be on the side of the ship that didnt burn.

Those people (on the side that burned) woke up to a lot of smoke or a wall of flames. They had to crawl in the hallways to their muster stations, towels on their heads, surrounded by smoke, she said. Were thankful we didnt have to go through that.

Pleased with Princess

Will Booms ever go on another Princess cruise?

Yes. Id go on the same cruise, she said. I wouldve liked to spent more time in Jamaica (and finish the cruise).

She said the ships crew is the reason she would go back.

They proved their goal is to take care of passengers. We had first-class treatment the whole time, she said.

She said all passengers on the Star Princess were fully reimbursed for the cruise and the airfare. They also received a 25 percent off coupon for a future cruise. She said Princess Cruises had to cancel upcoming cruises, and the same offer is being granted to those with canceled cruises.

The cruise ship crew couldnt have done anything differently to prevent this fire. It was not their fault. They followed protocol and kept us as safe as they could, Booms said. It couldve been a lot worse. For us, it was more of a scary inconvenience.

Overall, how would Booms describe her first cruise?

I know it sounds crazy, but other than the fire, we had a great time, Booms said with a chuckle.